Semiconductor industry's record profits hide environmental costs shifted to society

While the labor-management dispute at semiconductor companies appears to be nearing resolution with agreements reached without a general strike, a more fundamental issue remains unaddressed: who bears the costs incurred during the profit-generating process. Beyond profit sharing and equitable performance distribution, the core problem lies in the "externalization of costs," where companies shift necessary expenses onto society.

Capitalist economies struggle to price natural capital like the environment and ecosystems. This failure allows companies to accumulate pollution by externalizing costs, contributing to the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and plastic pollution. The ecological mitigation costs that companies avoid are ultimately covered by public funds or borne by citizens facing climate disasters.

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The companies' competitive edge is their ability to externalize costs.

SK Hynix serves as a stark example. The company promised to implement a "no-discharge system" at its Icheon plant as a condition for environmental impact assessment, meaning it would treat and reuse all water from the Han River. However, SK Hynix has continued discharging wastewater into the Osan Stream. Despite its immense profits, the company has not resolved the issues of water pollution and stream water levels, effectively transferring the environmental cost to downstream residents and public water management.

Energy consumption also highlights this issue. Both SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics have declared RE100 commitments but do not generate their own renewable energy. The construction of extensive transmission lines to bring renewable energy from production sites to their 수도권 (metropolitan area) plants has become a state responsibility. This problem is expected to escalate with the development of the Yongin semiconductor industrial complex, where the costs for power and water infrastructure will likely fall on the state and local communities. Residents in areas affected by transmission lines face displacement, and the associated social conflicts add to the burden borne by society. Analysis suggests that if these companies bore even 60% of their renewable energy costs, the strain on the current transmission infrastructure would significantly decrease, indicating a willingness issue rather than a capacity one.

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It is not because they lack the capacity to bear the cost. It is because they lack the will.